Wireless networks are frequently used in industrial process control systems. For example, a process control system often includes sensors that provide measurements over a wireless network and actuators that receive control signals over the wireless network. The wireless network may include interconnected network devices such as multinodes acting as backbone routers, field device access points (FDAPs) acting as field routers, field instruments, and wireless device managers (WDMs) acting as gateway/security managers or network managers.
A wireless network in an industrial facility often supports network devices compatible with only one specific communication standard. Generally, a wireless network requires extensive hardware modifications in order to enable the network to support network devices compatible with multiple standards. Thus, additions or replacements of network devices in a particular industrial facility are typically allowed only if the new network devices are compatible with the communication standard used in the industrial facility.